IRS Waives March 1 Filing Deadline for Farmers and Ranchers

On February 28, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced it will extend the deadline for qualifying farmers and ranchers to file and pay taxes from March 1 to April 15. If taxpayers file and pay the full amount of tax reported on their 2018 return by April 15, 2019, they will avoid being subject to any penalties.

To claim this waiver of the estimated tax penalty, farmers and ranchers must attach Form 2210-F, “Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Farmers and Fishermen,” to their 2018 tax return. The form must have the taxpayer’s name and identifying number entered at the top, and the waiver box (Part I, Box A) should be checked. The rest of the form should be left blank.

While agricultural producers have always been allowed to request an extension beyond March 1, they would have previously been required to pay the estimated tax amount up front and owe interest on the difference between the estimate and the amount in their final tax filing.

The IRS is providing this relief at the present time because, due to recent changes in tax law that affect farmers and ranchers, the IRS expects it will be more difficult to accurately determine what the tax liability will be.